Russell Sage Foundation Research Projects on the Recession

When the U.S. housing bubble peaked in mid-2006 and finally burst in 2007, it precipitated the onset of the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression with severe consequences for the housing market. A record 2.9 million foreclosure notices were filed in 2010, 1.2 million were reported in the first half of 2011, and recent reports indicate that foreclosures are on the rise again.

Among the most pressing and persistent questions about the Great Recession are these: Why has the U.S. labor market been so slow to recover, leaving unemployment rates near nine percent more than two years after the official end of the recession?

Different tribes of economists tend to view recessions quite differently. Keynesians suggest that recessions result from economy-wide slumps in demand and do not produce a lasting change in industrial structure.

The Great Recession has had a significant and largely negative impact on Americans and their families in a variety of ways. Millions of Americans have experienced the loss of their homes through foreclosure. Significant numbers are behind on rent or mortgage payments, or are “underwater,” paying on homes that are worth less than is owed.

The Great Recession may have had both subtle and profound effects on the organization and patterns of family life in the United States. Unemployment and the loss of family income or wealth can lead to changes in preferences and priorities for families. Previous research has found these disruptions vary by class, the level of unemployment and the gender of the parent.

In the early part of the Great Recession, men became unemployed at higher rates than women, which lead to a substantial focus on the impact of the recession on men and terms like "the great mancession." This focus on men's unemployment overshadowed the fact that during the recession women continued to earn less than men and remained more likely to fall into poverty.

A variety of indicators suggest that households significantly altered their financial behavior in the wake of the Great Recession. Real personal consumption declined more during this recession than in the prior four recessions and has taken longer to recover. Total U.S.

We now know many of the immediate and lingering consequences of the Great Recession. Record home foreclosures, underwater mortgages, historic long-term unemployment rates, declining median income, a lagging economy and the threat of a double-dip recession are all painfully familiar.